The blog recently had a milestone. 100 published posts! Cause for some self-reflection.

What makes a good blog?

I think sticking to one topic would help. Most of the blogs I go to exploit one theme over and over. I can’t do that. I am addicted to diversity.

When I started out, I got this advice : Quantity over Quality. There’s two main justifications

1. Blogging is like throwing darts at a board. The way the internet works, 99 percent of stuff gets ignored, and one percent goes bananas. There’s a small chance you’ll hit the bullseye without expecting to. It’s important to throw as many darts as possible.

2.This urban myth: there was a pottery class, where the class was split in two. One group was told their mark would depend on the quality and beauty of pots they made. The other group was told their mark would depend on the volume of pots they made. By the end of semester, the group that had been focussing on sheer volume was making rounder, better pots than the group that had been trying to focus on beauty. Sheer repetition of the actions improved their skills.

Occasionally I may use the motto of quantity first as an excuse for dross! But I think my blogging has improved a little. I hope it improves even more.

How do I blog?

I have a contract. I have to pay my girlfriend 20 bucks every afternoon if I haven’t turned in a draft for an article. I pay her another 20 if I haven’t published something by 11.30 am. Highly motivating, although when the contract expires I sometimes stop writing altogether.

This website called stickk inspired me. It uses this technique to commit people to their goals. Great for people who have lofty ambitions they sometimes fail to meet in their day-to-day life.

Some people have misinterpreted this and said ‘a bet is a stupid reason to write a blog, you should write a blog because you want to’. I do want to, I just find the moment-to-moment motivation harder to harness than the grand ideas. The great thing about this is that she doesn’t get rich. I’ve only missed a couple.

I attended the Meredith Music Festival, centred around a grassy downhill just outside the town of Meredith, in rural Victoria. Two nights and three days of bands and celebration. I had never been before, but I loved it. Before the festival, everyone was talking about the ‘Meredith experience’, and noone was talking about the bands, which made me worried. I was happy to find the music is still the centre of the experience.

I thought the best of the festival was Paul Kelly. His set at 7pm on the Saturday night kicked off an epic night. Mr Kelly’s music is so familiar it’s easy to disregard, but live, the familiar veneer is taken off and you remember why you (and everyone else) listened to it so much that you still know every word. The crowd was moved to tears, and in what is apparently a Meredith tradition, indicative of ultimate respect, everyone took off their shoes and waved them at him. Continue reading Meredith Music Festival – A Review

Don’t get offended by the following list. It’s just my experience. Many of these thing probably apply in any organisation, not just government. I’m sure many public servants find a challenging and rewarding niche and work their guts out. It just wasn’t me.

I got one of those orange Penguin Classics that sell for ten bucks. I love those. I think that’s how much a book should cost. I’m far more likely to spend money on books if I get three for thirty bucks than if I only get one.

Anyway, the book is considered a classic, hence its inclusion in the Penguin collection.

Whenever I go back and read books written before my time, I expect classic themes and minimal social critique. This is because I am a poor student of history and assume that everything that existed before I was born is irrelevant. Continue reading Rabbit Run – A Book Review